Crested Penbox
Northwestern Europe, probably Germany, 1594
Brass
24 cm long, 3.5 cm high, 6.5 cm wide
24 cm long, 3.5 cm high, 6.5 cm wide
A5404
Further images
Provenance: US private collection, purchased before 1990;
Their sale; Sotheby’s, New York, 2015;
US private collection, New Hampshire;
A brass penbox with hinged lid which hides a compartmented interior with removable inkwell and sandpot for blotting. The body of the penbox is intricately engraved with floral arabesques emerging from urns. The lid is decorated with strapwork cartouches containing floral urns on either end of the lid, with a large central crest flanked by the date 1594 and the initials HR and VW. The presence of two sets of initials may indicate that this penbox was a marriage gift.
Though the engraved decoration and heraldry indicates a European provenance, the form is that of the Islamic penbox. The pen box, or qalamdan, was used throughout the Islamic world, with this form being in use since at least the 12th century (see, for example, 54.450 in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, and MTW 939 in the Khalili Collection). It is likely that this form was transmitted to European craftsmen via contact with the Ottoman Empire.
The engraving is typical of European work, particularly Nuremberg and Augsburg, Germany. See, for example, the engraving on several German objects in the British Museum, including a clock case made in Southern Germany in 1581 (1874,0718.2); a table clock dated 1575–1585 (1888,1201.120).
As the coat of arms features sawn off buffalo horns, a feature known only in German and Scandinavian traditions, the intended owner was probably also German.
Their sale; Sotheby’s, New York, 2015;
US private collection, New Hampshire;
US private collection, Delaware.
A brass penbox with hinged lid which hides a compartmented interior with removable inkwell and sandpot for blotting. The body of the penbox is intricately engraved with floral arabesques emerging from urns. The lid is decorated with strapwork cartouches containing floral urns on either end of the lid, with a large central crest flanked by the date 1594 and the initials HR and VW. The presence of two sets of initials may indicate that this penbox was a marriage gift.
Though the engraved decoration and heraldry indicates a European provenance, the form is that of the Islamic penbox. The pen box, or qalamdan, was used throughout the Islamic world, with this form being in use since at least the 12th century (see, for example, 54.450 in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, and MTW 939 in the Khalili Collection). It is likely that this form was transmitted to European craftsmen via contact with the Ottoman Empire.
The engraving is typical of European work, particularly Nuremberg and Augsburg, Germany. See, for example, the engraving on several German objects in the British Museum, including a clock case made in Southern Germany in 1581 (1874,0718.2); a table clock dated 1575–1585 (1888,1201.120).
As the coat of arms features sawn off buffalo horns, a feature known only in German and Scandinavian traditions, the intended owner was probably also German.